PARIS — A ******** in the French city of Strasbourg ****** four people and ******* 11 others near a *****-famous Christmas market Tuesday, sparking a broad lockdown.

French prosecutors said a ********* ************* was opened, though authorities did not announce a motive for the *********. The city is home to the European Parliament, which was locked down after the ********.

It was unclear if the market – which was the nucleus of an al-Qaida-linked plot in 2000 – was targeted. The prefect of the Strasbourg region said the suspect was previously flagged as a possible extremist.

The ****** has been identified and has a criminal record, according to Interior Minister Christophe Castaner.

The ***** toll, first reported as one, rose to four by late Tuesday, according to two ****** union officials. One official, Stephane Morisse of union FGP, told The Associated Press the alleged shooter was ******* by soldiers guarding the market.

Gendarmes went to the suspect’s home to ****** him earlier Tuesday, before the ******, but he wasn’t there, Morisse said. They found ********* materials, he said.

French military spokesman Col. Patrik Steiger said the shooter did not aim for the soldiers patrolling in and around the Christmas market, but targeted civilians instead.

Several of the people ******* were in ******************, the interior minister said.

Witnesses described to the AP hearing ********, screams and the shouts of ****** officers ordering people to stay indoors before the area fell silent and the officers fanned out.

“I heard two or three ***** at around 7:55 p.m. (1855 GMT), then I heard screams. I got close to the window. I saw people running. After that I closed the shutters. Then I heard more *****, closer this time,” Yoann Bazard, 27, who lives in central Strasbourg.

“I thought maybe it’s firecrackers,” he said, speaking by phone. “And then, as it got close, it was really shocking. There were a lot of screams. … There were ****** or soldiers shouting ‘Get inside!’ and ‘Put your hands on your head.'”

Freelance journalist Camille Belsoeur was at a friend’s ********* when they heard the *******, at first mistaking it for firecrackers.

“We opened the window. I saw a soldier firing *****, about 12 to 15 *****,” Belsoeur said,

Other soldiers yelled for people to stay indoors and shouted ‘Go home! Go home!’ to those outside, he said.

Another witness, Peter Fritz, told the BBC one of the four people ****** was a Thai tourist who was shot in the head and didn’t respond to lengthy attempts to revive him.

France previously endured several high-profile extremist *******, including the co-ordinated ******* at multiple Paris locations that ****** 130 people and ******* hundreds in ******** 2015. A 2016 truck ****** in Nice ****** dozens.

President Emmanuel Macron adjourned a meeting at the presidential palace Tuesday night to monitor the *********, his office said, indicating the gravity of the ******.

Castaner and the Paris prosecutor, who is in charge of anti-****** probes in France, headed to Strasbourg. The prosecutor’s office said the ************* was being conducted on suspicion of ****** and attempted ****** in relation with a ********* enterprise charges, suggesting officials think the alleged shooter may have links to extremists.

In multiple neighbourhoods of Strasbourg, the French Interior Ministry urged the public to remain indoors. Local authorities tweeted for the public to “avoid the area of the ****** station,” which is close to the city’s Christmas market.

Strasbourg’s well-known market is set up around the city’s cathedral during the Christmas season and is a popular gathering place.

French soldiers were on patrol after the ********. At the scene, ****** officers, ****** vehicles and barricades surrounded the sparkling lights of the market.

“Our security and rescue services are mobilized,” Castaner said.

European Parliament spokesman Jaume Duch said that “the European Parliament has been closed and no one can leave until further notice.” It wasn’t immediately clear how many people were inside.

The ****** revived memories of a new millennium ****** plot targeting Strasbourg’s Christmas market. Ten suspected Islamic militants were convicted and sentenced to prison in December 2004 for their role in a plot to blow up the market on the New Year’s Eve ushering in 2000.

The Algerian and French-Algerian suspects – including an alleged associate of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden – went on trial in October on charges they were involved in the foiled plot for the ******.

They were sentenced to prison terms ranging from one to nine years.